Director – Jill Gevargizian (One Last Meal, Dark Web)
Starring – Najarra Townsend (Contracted, Wolf Mother), Brea Grant (Dexter, 12 Hour Shift), and Davis DeRock (The Elmwood Strain, Black Friday)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 3.5/5
It’s not often that I come across a movie that most genre fans love and I, too, find myself enjoying it. I enjoy the goofy side of cinema. I love horror movies with a funny bone. Give me the most outlandish story you can find with over the top characters and I’m happy. However, there is a few serious films that I come across that I do enjoy.
I’ve been hearing about the horror film The Stylist for sometime now and most of the horror community seemed to love it. When I saw that Arrow Video was handling the release of this one I was quick to reach out for a review copy. I want to thank Arrow Video and MVD for sending this one over for review. I really enjoyed this dark tale.
**spoiler Alert** The film follows Claire (Townsend) who is a popular hairstylist by day but is a lonely serial killer at night. She becomes obsessed with her clients and kills them before scalping them to make her own sick and demented wigs out of them. When she is approached by a woman planning her wedding she finds a new obsession. She is hired to do her hair for the wedding and begins stalking her before going too far on her wedding day. **Spoiler Alert**
I love a good female lead horror film with great atmosphere but it’s not often that the genre gets them. Most horror films are male centered which can be said for any genre. However, the horror genre has seen some seriously underrated dark and demented horror tales centered around a well written female character. We have May, Office Killer, Carrie, and now The Stylist. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as I did but I fucking loved it.
The acting in this one is absolutely fantastic. I want to take a moment to talk about the supporting cast. Most of the characters are not that well written but the cast did a fantastic job with what they were given. They fit the scenes very well and it made the film very enjoyable. With that being said, this is Townsend’s film. Her character is the focus of the film and it wouldn’t be the same if someone else was cast for her. She does a phenomenal job and delivers one truly creepy performance.
The story for this one is straight forward and simple. We get a woman who is a stylist that has a fascination with scalps. Those things work very well together and fits the theme of the film perfectly. Having her day job mix with her murderous tendencies made for a great story. What sets this one apart from other films like it is the atmosphere and sets. We get some beautifully dark scenes with some amazing looking sets. When you mix all those elements together you get an amazingly atmospheric horror flick that works well.
Finally, this is not one with a high body count but we do get some fun kills with wonderful practical effects. The scalping scene is one that will stick with you for sometime. Overall, The Stylist is a must see for genre fans. It does live up to the hype and one that fans will be praising for sometime. It’s extremely dark with the perfect amount of story and tension to work. I highly recommend it.
